Maura's Hair
by tika12001
Summary: Maura dyes her hair brown, and Jane finds it somewhat... distracting. Rizzles!


**Title: Maura's Hair**

**Author: tika12001**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: Maura dyes her hair brown, and Jane finds it somewhat... distracting.**

**Disclaimer: not mine, make no money, blah blah blah**

_**Author's note: Okay, I just love these characters. They are awesome. That's pretty much all I wanted to say. Except... hi! *waves***_

R&IR&IR&I

"What do we have here?" I ask Frost as I move forward, pulling on a pair of gloves as I walk.

"Body of a young woman, found early this morning by some joggers. Looks like she was sexually assaulted then strangled, but we're waiting on Maura for a preliminary report," Frost replies, and I nod, looking over to where other cops were milling, presumably around the body dump zone, then look around the area.

"Where is Maura anyway?"

"I don't know, she said she'd be right here," Korsak says, looking around also, but seemingly not spotting any sign of her. Just then, I catch sight of a dark haired woman walking over to the crime scene and lifting the tape. I roll my eyes and start to run over as the woman heads towards the body determinedly. _Curiousity killed the detective_, I think. _Killed her with frustration over stupid people who thought crime scene tape applied to everyone but them!_

"Hey, whoa, this is a crime scene, you can't..." I start to say, but when I catch a good look at the woman, I find I can't continue as my jaw has dropped.

"Hi Jane," Maura replies brightly. I blink.

"Wow, nice hair Dr Isles," Korsak says appreciatively, looking Maura up and down, while Frost just does a low wolf whistle to show his approval. Maura smiles bashfully before peeking at me. I blink again.

Maura's usual honey blonde hair had been dyed a deep, warm chocolate brown. Standing as she is in the sunlight, I can also see subtle highlights of red and blonde through the immaculate waves, and I wonder why I had never noticed till this point that Maura had flecks of green in her eyes? Surely that's something a best friend would notice? Or would they? I suddenly feel very confused about the boundaries of a normal friendship, and, all in all, am quite grateful when Frankie finds our group and comes over to gently slap me on the shoulder, breaking me out of my weird mind funk.

"Are you actually gonna work, sis, or are you just gonna stand here and stare at Maura all day? Nice hair by the way," he adds as a side note to Maura, who nods her thanks.

Huh. Maybe I'm not grateful he came over after all.

"Seriously Jane, are you going to do your job, or do I need to steal your badge?"

Right. Still haven't started talking. Need to fix that.

"Um. Yeah. Work." I turn around and stalk in the opposite direction.

"Jane," I hear several voices call, so I turn around impatiently. "The body's this way."

"I know that. I just need something out of the car," I make up desperately. Frankie raises an eyebrow at me and I pull a face back at him.

"_What_ do you need out of the car?" he asks, and I feel tempted to throw something at him.

"My phone!" I reply triumphantly after several long seconds of thinking.

"You mean the phone that's on your belt at the moment?" Frankie persists. I wonder if there are any good size rocks around. I wouldn't throw them at his head, just at a leg or arm to get a nice bruise up.

"Oh. Right," I say. "I thought I took it off, and... well anyway! Onto the body!" I march forward, desperately ignoring the way Frost and Korsak are shaking their heads in confusion as I walk away, blissfully ignorant of Maura's bemused stare.

Okay, so maybe I wasn't that ignorant.

I was slightly aware of it.

It was all I could think of.

I hear some awkward sounding running behind me, and next thing I know, Maura is half jogging alongside me, needing to take one and a half steps for every one of my long strides.

"Do you like my hair?" she asks, looking at me with wide eyes.

I flounder desperately. "Does it matter if I like your hair?"

"Yes!" she replies with conviction. "Studies have proven that if your friends and colleagues verbally approve of your appearance, it bolsters the ego, thereby improving the immune system, the digestive functions as well as general brain and motor activity." She lays a gloved hand on my arm and comes to a stop, digging her heels into the soft grass so that I am forced to either stop or pull her over. So, of course, I stop. "So... do you like my hair?"

My eyes flicker over to Frost, Korsak and Frankie, who were all huddled together, watching us and frantically attempting to smother their little girl giggles.

"It's fine. Let's go." I lift her hand off my arm and stride away, leaving Maura to quickly pull herself out of the grass and follow along.

"Fine?" she asks, when she finally catches up. "Is that fine as in 'I really like it' or fine as in 'I can't wait till it grows out but I'll pretend to like it till then because she's my friend'?"

I shake my head, shrug my shoulder and open and close my mouth all at the same time, vaguely resembling some kind of epileptic seizure I'm sure, as I reply, "It's fine... why does fine have to mean anything other than fine?"

Maura forces me to a stop yet again and I shoot a glare over at Korsak who lets out a loud snort as he watches us. When he, Frost and Frankie see me looking in their direction, they immediately act as though the sky is the most interesting thing they have ever seen in their entire lives.

"Did you know that the word 'fine' has many definitions? It can mean small, as in 'fine granules of dirt'. It is also coined as a term for a sum of money that is payable to the courts due to a breach of law or demeanour. It can mean a French brandy of high quality that has been made from distilled wine rather than from pomace. And of course, it can also mean of superior skill, quality or appearance."

"Well, there you go, then. It's the last one. Let's go." I manage two steps forward before I'm yanked to a stop again. I roll my eyes up to the heavens and close my eyes as I pray for patience.

"Ah, but fine can also mean bad things, as defined in modern day literature and social networking sites. It is widely acknowledged that, in a stereotypical male/female partnership, that if the male asks what's wrong and the female replies that she is fine, that she is not fine at all."

I clench my teeth as I reply, trying to move my lips as little as possible. "We're not in a relationship."

"A friendship is a type of relationship though. Other types of relationships include business associates, casual sex partners, college roommates, family relations of course..."

"Casual sex partners? Really?" I ask, staring at Maura in disbelief.

"Sex is extremely beneficial, Jane. As I've stated before, partaking in regular sexual activities releases a chemical called immunoglobulin A, which protects against colds and infections."

I gaze open mouthed at Maura for a few seconds. "How did we get from your hair to casual sex partners and immino goblin a?"

Maura frowned up at me. "You are very complex. I really do not understand you."

I looked back at her. "Ditto."

Maura puts her head on the side and studies me for a second. I shake my head and begin to walk away and she quickly catches up. "Did you know that the word 'ditto' actually has ancient beginnings? It comes from the Latin word 'dictus' which means 'having been said'. This evolved into 'detto' in standard Italian. In the Tuscan dialect, '_detto'_ became '_ditto'_, which entered English in the early 17th century."

I stare at Maura in disbelief. "Do you have a set requirement of how many random facts you have to reveal in a day?"

She looks confused. "No."

"Good. So we can go check out the body now?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." I take two steps forward, thinking this day might improve after all, when Maura catches up.

"So, what _do_ you think of my hair?"

_Oh God..._

_R&IR&IR&I_

Several hours, and much avoiding of a certain newly-brunette doctor, later, we finally got back to the precinct and puzzled out the details of the young woman's death. Her name was Suzy Pearson, we found out, and it seemed pretty obvious that her killer did not have a particularly high IQ. He hadn't used a condom when raping Suzy, and the rope that he'd used to strangle her was left at the scene, covered in his own blood. Overall, it was a pretty open and shut case. When we hauled in the jealous boyfriend and told him we had found his DNA at the crime scene, his response was 'Oh, no shit? You guys really do that formensic testing stuff? I thought that be just for them cop shows. Damn,' and that pretty much cemented my opinion of him as a stupid scumbag.

So now it is time for me to go tell Maura she could release the body into the family's custody for burial, and I am desperately seeking out any distraction possible to delay going downstairs. Frost and Korsak aren't helping at all, they just keep asking me when I'm going, why haven't I gone yet, is there some reason I don't want to go, etc. Frankie is just smirking at me from the corner, so I keep throwing peanuts at him when the guys aren't looking. Finally, there's nothing more I can use as a distraction, so with a huge sigh I heave myself to my feet and trudge over to the elevators.

"Don't look so glum, Jane," Frost calls out.

"I'm sure Maura will be _happy_ to see you," says Korsak.

"Give her a kiss from us too, hey?" Frankie calls, and that's it. Just before the door shuts I heave the entirety of the remainder of the bag of peanuts at him, hearing him laugh as he raises a hand and a leg to protect himself.

I walk into the morgue and find Maura pouring over what appears to be a fashion magazine. "What are you doing?" I ask suspiciously.

"Trying to learn how to lighten my hair back to its original colour without doing too much damage," Maura replies without even looking up. As I watch, she places her pointer finger on an article and starts making notes on a little notebook, occasionally glancing back at the magazine to ensure she has the facts correct.

"Why?" I ask slowly.

"Because you don't like it," Maura answers, again without looking up.

"I... I do like it! I said it was fine!" I stammer, and Maura shakes her head.

"'Fine' wasn't the reaction I was hoping for. Never mind though, it seems like it's a problem that won't be too hard to fix. It may result in some hair weakness and breakage over a few months, but with regular conditioning..." I shake my head and walk over to her, slapping my hand down over the top of the article. "Hey!" she protests, poking my hand with her pen.

"Why does my opinion matter so much, anyway? Everyone else has said they loved it, shouldn't you go with the majority?"

"Ah, so you _don't_ like it!"

I huff in frustration. "I didn't say that! I just want to know why it's so important to you that _I_ like it. What reaction were you hoping to get from me?"

Maura frowns, her bottom lip poking out a bit as she studiously avoided my eyes and stared at the wall and ground shiftily.

"Maura..." I say warningly, and her eyes snap to mine. They are wide and full of trepidation and the bottom lip is still poking out a bit.

"I just wanted you to really like it."

"Why?" I ask, studying her.

She shifts her footing a little bit. "I don't know."

I smile and my eyes automatically glance downwards towards her chest. "Hives..." I say, pointing at the faint red splotches starting to appear on her skin.

"I wanted you to be attracted to me," she finally says, and I frown in confusion, wondering if I had heard correctly.

"Uh... what?"

Maura shakes her head and grabs her bag. She shoves the fashion magazine and notepad in it. "Never mind. I'm going home to dye my hair."

"What?" I repeat stupidly as Maura strides past me and disappears through the door to the stairwell.

_Huh. That's... interesting._

_R&IR&IR&I_

I pull up outside Maura's front door about 25 minutes later. I had to tell the others where I was going (and ignore their jibes as I did), plus make a stop at the store but I was finally ready. Shifting the packages in my hands, I nervously walked up to the door and knocked, somewhat awkwardly. After a few minutes, Maura's face appeared through the glass panel next to the door. She was wearing one of my old Boston BPD shirts that was way too big on me (and so was pretty much a dress on her) and more than half of her dark hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head. She lowered her gaze but opened the door straight away, which I took as a good sign.

"Hi Jane," she said softly.

"I love your hair," I say abruptly, and she immediately snaps her gaze up to mine.

"Wha... you do?" she asks.

"Yes," I reply, and step forward earnestly. "It's pretty and gorgeous and sexy and when I saw you, I couldn't take my eyes off you, and I couldn't speak for about 30 seconds, which is a long time for me..."

"I know, Jane," Maura smiles fondly.

"... and I was attracted to you. I might have been for a while. Which is probably why Frankie, Frost and Korsak are busy laughing their butts off at me right now."

"It is physically impossible to laugh to the point where one's gluteus maximus might potentially fall off."

"See! That's why! You say stuff like that all the time and with anyone else, it would annoy me like crazy, but it doesn't with you! You are socially awkward, and you don't understand slang, and you're a little bit weird... well, actually, you're kind of a _lot_ weird, but..."

Maura is frowning at me. "So I'm a weird, socially idiotic loner?"

I try to flail my hands but the stuff I'm holding makes that impossible so instead I just shrug my shoulders and move my body around a lot. "No! Anyone else would be, but you're not! You're just you, and I love the way you are. You wouldn't be you if you understood what ROFL meant, or if you didn't spout off random obscure knowledge every five minutes. You wouldn't be you, and that's not good because I love you." I stop suddenly, staring at Maura wide eyed as she looks at me. I can't read the expression on her face, and even though she said she wanted me to be attracted to her, I'm still scared out of my mind.

"What's in the bags?" Maura asks eventually, her gaze dropping to the items I was still holding in my rapidly paining hands.

"Oh!" I say, and drop the items to the floor, kneeling down to start going through them. "Okay, well I bought you flowers, because every declaration of love should come with flowers." I hand Maura the flowers and she takes them, staring at them blankly. "I also bought you chocolate, because I figured I'd screw this up somehow and have to apologize, and I called you weird, so... sorry. There's that one." I hand Maura the chocolate, and that still leaves two full bags. "And this is... well..." I pick up both bags and tip them upside down. About 18 boxes of brown hair dye tumble out and roll across the floor. Maura gazes at them in disbelief. "I wasn't sure if you'd believe me when I said I liked your hair, so I thought I'd prove it."

Maura laughs and crouches down next to me, reaching out to touch the boxes. "How much did this cost you, Jane?"

"A couple of hundred," I mumble, and watch delightedly as Maura throws her head back and laughs. She reaches out to take my hands and we both stand up.

"You, Jane Rizzoli, are rash. You don't think before you act, you say things that can be quite mean at times and you never react properly in formal settings."

"Wait," I say, putting up a hand to halt Maura's words. Maura just looks amused, "so now you're saying that I'm a reckless, impulsive, sometimes-mean _redneck_?"

Maura frowns. "Your neck isn't red, Jane."

I stare at her for a few seconds before I suddenly start to laugh. After a short period, Maura joins in too. She stops before I do though, and takes both of my hands in hers. "You can be reckless, impulsive and sometimes mean, but you're also the sweetest person I know. So if you'll be my redneck, I'll be your loner."

I smile at her, lean in and kiss her softly. When we break apart, our foreheads rest together and we breathe in the same air. Suddenly I throw my head back and groan at the ceiling. "Oh my God, this is the lamest getting together story _ever_."

"What?" Maura says, taking a half step back and frowning at me. "I think it's sweet."

"It's lame," I tell her flatly.

"No, it's not. I dye my hair to get your attention, you flounder helplessly before finally admitting your love for me..."

"No."

"... The boxes of hair dye add a nice touch," Maura adds, and I shake my head.

"No. We'll come up with another story."

"What's wrong with the true story?"

"It's lame."

"But it's sweet," Maura implores.

"No, it's just lame. Wait, I've got it. We'll tell people that you got kidnapped again..."

"Really?"

"You have crappy taste in guys; no one will have a problem believing it. And then I came in and rescued you."

"Uh huh."

"And when you saw me, you were so overwhelmed by my presence that you simply had to kiss me."

"...right..."

"Or maybe I should say that I kissed you, as I suddenly realized the depth of my love?" I ponder, drumming my fingers on my chin.

"Of course," Maura replies flatly, a gleam of humour in her eyes.

"And that way I'm the heroine, and you're the damsel in distress!"

Maura nods once then shakes her head rapidly. "No. I'm telling people the truth."

"The truth sucks."

Maura grins up at me mischievously. "You suck."

"You'll find that out later," I grin, swooping down to capture her lips in another addictive kiss. As my hand reached up to release her hair from the clip, I thought that I wouldn't really have a problem with Maura telling the real story.

As long as she kept her hair this colour of course.

END

_Please review! Again, I love these characters, they're so much fun to play with :-)_


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